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C, LORBER MJMQQQMM KEY CASE Filed May 25, 1924 l l anota,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES LORBER, 0F LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

KEY CASE.

Application filed May 26, 1924. Serial No. 715,892.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that CHARLES LORBER, citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key Cases, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to key carrying devices such as are popularly known as key cases.

The principal object of the invention is to improve the general construction of devices of this character.

Such key cases usually consist of a leather envelope or wrapper to which is secured a base plate of thin metal having its upper edge rolled to form a tube slotted to receive the eyes of key hooks, a hinge wire being run through said tube and eyes to hold the hooks swingingly on the base plate. Such construction is objectionable because of the projection of the hooks forwardly from the base and has been sought to be overcome by swivelling the hooks to the base by providing them with spherical heads inside the tube. This partially impro-ves the device but such spherical heads are difficult to form and ordinary flat heads such as are formed on toilet pins could not well be used because of their liability to slip out of the crack or slit formed between the edge of the metal constituting the base plate, when rolled forwardly to form the tube, and the face of said base plate.

Another and very important obj ect of the invention is to provide an improved base plate arrangement wherein the metal of the plate is so bent and rolled that the slit of the tube is in the back of the base plate and is thus covered by the leather of the case, said tube being preferably so arranged that key rings -of the ordinary coiled type, but provided with headed shanks, may be detacha-bly connected to such hase plate.

lith the above and other objects in view as will be hereinafter apparent, the invention consists in general of certain novel details of constuction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and:

Figure 1 is a face View of the key holder open.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail of one of the key rings and its headed shank.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detailI section on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are detail perspectives showing different arrangements of the slotted tube on the base plate.

In the embodiment of the invention there is shown a case of leather or the like having back portion 10 and front flaps 11 which fold over on the lines 12 and are held in folded position by means of snap fastening members 18. At the top of the back is a base plate 14 which is secured to the back by rivets 15. The metal of this base plate is bent, adjacent the top edge, forwardly as at 16 and then rolled upwardly and rearwardly to form a tube 17, the top edge 18 of the plate terminating adjacent the angle of the forward bend. The tube 17 is provided at intervals with slots 19 for the reception of the Shanks of key rings 21, each of which consists of a flat wire coil. Each shank is provided on the end within the tube 17 with a flat head 22.

In the form shown in Figure 4 it will be seen that the slots open through the edge 18 so that the tube can be slightly sprung to permit the heads 22 to pass in and out thus enabling broken or injured key rings to be replaced. Similarly in the form shown in Figure 5, the slots 19 extend through the' edge but the top edge 18 of the base plate laps l over the flat back of said plate. In place of the slots 19 key hole slots may be employed as shown at 23 in Figures 6 and 7 and the large end of these slots may either be closed by the lapping of the top edge 18 on the back of the plate 14 or may rest against the back 10 of the leather case.

It will be seen that any one of these forms permits freeing of the Shanks from the base plate when desired but by reason of the slit between the tube and the body of the base plate being at the rear such disengagement cannot accidentally be brought about. Moreover, it will be noted that the key rings 21 lie, in the case, in flatly overlapping relation.

There has thus been provided a simple and eiiicient device of the kind described and for the purpose specified.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, therefore, de-

sired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come Within the scope claimed.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new is:

A ke7 holder including` a base plate having a tubular portion extending along its upper edge and provided with transverse slits, and flat spiral key rings each having a coil provided with an end extending tangentially to form a headed shank, said shank passing through a respective slit and its head lying Within the tubular portion, said slits being spaced at distances less than the diameters of the rings, said Shanks being disposed in juxtaposed slits to permit said coils to lie in flatly overlapping relation When facing laterally in the same direction.

In testimony whereof I affix my signa,- ture.

CHARLES LORBER. 

